


Raise A Glass

by Cephy



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alcohol, Community: no_true_pair, Cynicism, End of the World, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-09
Updated: 2008-06-09
Packaged: 2017-10-06 05:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cephy/pseuds/Cephy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Heartless come to Midgar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Raise A Glass

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: "Riku and Reno: it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine".

Riku finds the man perched atop a half-tumbled wall, feet braced in broken stone and one hand behind his head. His other hand is wrapped loosely around the neck of a bottle-- twin to the one shattered a short distance away-- and he brings it to his lips for a long swallow.

Below, and ahead, and around, the screams reach a new crescendo, and the man closes his eyes as he drinks.

When his hand lowers, he tilts his head in Riku's direction without opening his eyes. "You gonna stand there and stare all night, or you got somethin' to say?

"You seem remarakably unconcerned that your world is being destroyed," Riku comments, somehow unsurprised that the man knows he's there.

"The world's been goin' to shit for years," the man says, finally turning to look. His eyes, in the light, are mostly pupil. "Can't say this is the way I expected it to finally go, but _damn_ it makes a good show." And he _grins_, an expression full of teeth.

"Aren't you going to fight back?"

"Would it do any good?"

"Probably not," Riku has to admit.

"Then what's the fuckin' point?" The man takes another drink, turns his head back so that he's watching the smoke rise, watching the shadows shift between the buildings. "Listen, kid," he adds, "when these things come for me, I'm gonna do my damnedest to give them hell before I go, but I've already seen them drag down a lot of good people. So why don't you run along and die somewhere else, hey, because I've got this spot all taken care of."

Riku hesitates before turning away, but his work is done regardless and so he makes a portal and leaves. The afterimage of the man toasting the darkness, silhouetted against the burning city, stays with him the entire way.


End file.
